50 Years of Viridian Artists

“50 years of Viridian Artists”
April 24th to May 19th, 2018
opening reception: Thursday, April 26th, 6-8PM
Closing reception: Saturday, May 19, 4-6PM
festive dress in the spirit of the 60s & 70s when Viridian began!

Alan Gaynor Susan Sills Barbara K. Schwartz Kat King Ellen Burnett May DeViney Renee Borkow
Mary Tooley Parker John Nieman Kiffi Diamond Bob Tomlinson Bernice Faegenburg
Wally Gilbert Namiyo Kubo Henry Coupe Tazuko Fuji Oi Sawa Ron Moore Nancy Nicol
Stacey Clarfield Newman Angela Smith Srividya Kannan Ramachandran Virginia Evans Smit Robert Smith
Deborah Sudran Toto Takamori Bruce Rosen Diana T Soorikian Diane Root Richard Karp Rufus Snoddy Carol Brookes Bill Heard Rick Mullin Carol Yoshimine Dorothy McGahee Braudy Jeff Melzack
Paul Matthews Marilyn Miller Kelynn Alder Sally Fine Jain Hutzell Judy Tummino Arthur Dworin
Sabine Carlson Carol Crawford Mary-Ellen Campbell Darryl Moody Katherine Ellinger Smith
Robert Mielenhausen Marjorie Zelman Dave Dorsey Carol Benisatto Meredeth Turshen Naomi Blum Rosemary Lyons Rima Grad Elizabeth Hoff Jordan Zweifler Matthias Merdan Phyllis Smith
Don Zurlo Susan Hockaday Ernesto Ruiz Bry Ben Wohlberg * and others

Chelsea: It is with pleasure and pride that Viridian Artists is featuring past and present Viridian Artists in a celebration of 50 years of being. The show extends from April 24th to May 19th, 2018 with an opening reception Thursday, April 26th, 6-8PM and a closing reception Saturday, May 19, 4-6PM. We invite all to wear festive dress in the spirit of the 60s & 70s when Viridian began!
As one of the first artist-owned galleries in the New York City art world, Viridian began its existence in Soho when Soho was just beginning to be an art destination. In 1968, a group of Long Island artist formed a gallery just off West Broadway called Second Story Spring Street, the parent of Viridian Artists before SoHo was SoHo.
Viridian moved from SoHo to becoming the only artist owned gallery on 57th St where it remained until 2001 in the NY Gallery Building. As the city was digging out from under the tragedy of 9/11, Viridian was moving to 530 W 25th in Chelsea where it remained until 2011, moving then to its current location at 548 West 28th Street.
The artists of Viridian draw from the complicated and often contradictory currents of modern life and contemporary culture to create their art. The gallery has always prized esthetic diversity and each Viridian Artist, past and present, has a particular approach to representation and a unique way of decoding reality. Among the more recent additions to the roster are
Srividya Kannan Ramachandran who creates digital images and now has created a digital avatar who also creates and Ernesto Ruiz Bry whose gigantic collages take nearly a year to create. Viridian continues to reach out to incorporate the diverse branches of creativity that are exploding in our contemporary international art world.
Over the years some of the original artists have remained with the gallery while others have departed and then returned. With the gallery since its inception are Bernice Faegenburg, and Virginia Evans Smit and for nearly as long, Susan Sills, who served as gallery president until recently turning over that honor to photographer Alan Gaynor. Other artists with the gallery since before 2000 include May DeViney, Renee Borkow, Robert Smith, Bob Tomlinson, Deborah Sudran.
Viridian prizes its international roster with Japanese artists Namiyo Kubo, Toto Takamori and Oi Sawa, and Tazuko Fujii who continue as honorary members. Viridian has added an estate affiliation with the estates of Henry Coupe, Barbara K Schwartz, who died recently and Bruce Rosen, enabling their work to continue to be shown, as well as a Young Artists category for artists under thirty years of age.
As commercial galleries become artist-owned and cooperative galleries become more equally respected for their outstanding art and the freedom they give their artists, Viridian has maintained that critical balance necessary to compete in today's diverse art community. Today, surviving the heyday of “commercialism as art” and “art as real estate”, Viridian continues. A catalog will become available in the near future.

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday 12- 6 PM
For further information please contact Vernita Nemec, Gallery Director